Like every other pinhead out there, I've dreamed about making my own machine. Recently, I've put some serious thought into how to actually go about it.

I've read Aurich's posts about simplifying the pinball experience and agree that tangles of ramps and endless complicated rulesets are getting out of control, which is perfect because my dream theme is sort of "the game Bally never got around to making." I want to create a real late-70's throwback with electronic beeps, no ramps and lots of character.

My other inspiration is a lack of space in my home. I'd love to own a Golden Arrow, Buccaneer, OXO, Strange World and Gemini, but I have room for only one more game at this point (in my bedroom, if I move some furniture around). So I want to make it count and create a sort of "wedgehead multicade," capable of playing several different games on a single layout.

After getting advice on these Forums, I've decided that re-theming an existing game would save countless hours and dollars. I took the plunge this week when I found and bought a Flash playfield on Craigslist - it's missing most of the plastics (which I'd replace anyway), along with four coils, one of the flippers and a few standard parts, but the bones were there - all the brackets, switches and game-specific parts were in place. At $250 I overpaid a little, but at least this gets me started.

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I did a lot of research before deciding that the ideal game for a re-theme is a Williams Flash. It has several great things going for it:

1. Fantastic layout with lots to do. Great flow, a cool spinner shot and a kickout hole to pause the action if I need to. The bonus counter is arranged in a circle, which helps with some of the ideas I have in mind. Also, I love love LOVE the short shooter lane that launches the ball across the playfield into a figure-8. It's like an architect saying "elevators have gone up and down for a hundred years. What if this one went sideways instead?"

2. Terrible artwork. I'd feel bad about obliterating a pretty game, but the art package on Flash is so awful that I'm eager to get started. Seriously, it looks like margin doodles from a high school burnout's social studies notebook.

3. A high production run. Over 10,000 Flashes were made, so I feel better about hacking one apart. I'd never do this to a rare title.

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My first order of business is to clear (nearly) everything off to get a flat playfield. I did it in sections, putting all the parts for each slingshot, flipper, bumper, etc. in a separate labeled Ziplock bag. Posts and ball guides went in their own bag so I can clean them later. I also clipped most of the wires on the back and removed the wiring, as I'd be re-stringing everything down the line. Then I wiped it all down with some Windex to remove a couple decades of grime.

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To make new playfield graphics, I'll need a full-size representation of the existing layout. I don't have a portable scanner and can't justify buying one buying one just for this project, so I went old-school. I taped a large piece of paper to the playfield and rubbed it down with a stick of graphite. I can now take this page, run it through a scanner, import the file into Adobe Illustrator and design new graphics around the existing playfield layout.

Notice how the relief rubbing picked up ball trails and even some of the printed graphics.

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It was a pretty good find! I'll want to re-seat or replace some of the inserts though. I have some specific questions for you - I'll post on your restoration thread.

Nothing wrong with the bonus inserts except for the old graphics. A light sanding does the trick.

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Some of the other inserts needed to be replaced, though.

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Fun with Bondo.

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More work with the inserts.

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I thought I'd keep close track of spending on this project as well. So far:

Playfield: $250
Marco Order #1: $34.99
Pinball Life order #1: $20.35

Total: $305.34

Quoted from cosmokramer:

how many of us would have liked to trade our beater playfield for that beautiful example that was sanded down...

Quoted from ForceFlow:

I would have been happy to trade my worn playfield for that nicer one...

Ermagerd, you guys, it'll be fine. Please just let me do this.

Jeezy creezy.

Clearly, there are people who hate my choice of materials and they'll probably hate my artwork and they'll HAAAAAAAATE my theme and my cabinet and my programming and they'll second-guess every single choice I make in this project. Please understand a few things:

1. It's okay if you don't like it. There will only ever be one of these and I will pretty much be the only one who plays it. I'm going to make it look and play the way I want it to.

2. There are literally THOUSANDS of other Flash playfields in existence. I'm just using ONE of them for my personal project. There are plenty of other Flash playfields to enjoy and - who knows - maybe someone will make reproductions some day.

3. Forgive me if it's not worn down to the wood, but I was specifically looking for a Flash and this one was available near me at a reasonable price. This particular playfield was hanging out on Craigslist for six weeks - if you really wanted it, you could have bought it yourself.

4. Even in pristine condition, Flash's artwork is ugly as sin. Please stop acting like I'm splashing paint on a Vermeer.

5. It's going to be fine. We're in the early stages of the project where everything is messy and ugly and it will look better a few steps down the road. There will be plenty of other, more important things to complain about in future posts.

I know you guys mean well and I hope you enjoy seeing the progress on this project. If it really upsets you, please just avert your eyes.

Thanks - I have a theme and I've already created the playfield artwork, but I'm going to wait a bit longer to reveal it. Maybe after I meet with my printers this weekend.

Trigger warning: today I remove the old mylar.

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I met with my printer this weekend, explained the project and asked a lot of questions. Option 1 is to get my graphics printed on a black-backed white vinyl decal with holes laser-cut out for the pops, drops, inserts, screw holes, etc. and then get a second set of insert decals printed on clear vinyl. Option 2 is to mask the inserts, paint everything white and get the graphics printed in a single sheet on a clear vinyl decal, so I wouldn't have to worry about doing it in layers. My printer recommended Option 1 because my design features some areas of white, light gray and yellow which wouldn't print as well on the clear material.

We also talked about the clear protective veneer he uses and how it would be affected by the clearcoat. The veneer gives a bit of extra UV protection and prevents scratches, which might occur during application. My Obi-Wan on this project, Vid1900, recommended doing a test, so I headed home with some samples. With some leftover clearcoat from my last big project, I coated a piece of scrap lumber, let it set up, and applied three samples: an uncoated piece of printed vinyl, the regular clear laminate, and a printed sample with 3M brand laminate. Then I cleared over all three, let it dry and checked the results.

The clearcoat stuck to all three samples, no problem, but I noticed something curious on the 3M sample - a strange criss-cross texture is apparent when the light reflects in just the right way. Very strange. But with this data in mind, I now know to order black-backed white vinyl with the regular laminate.

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That was Option 3 - cover the inserts with white translucent vinyl - but I immediately rejected it because that's not the look I want for this game.

Excellent - thanks for posting that! He's basically doing my Option 2, but with a layer of white vinyl instead of painting the board white.

I hope someone can do me a favor - I'm working on designing plastic parts while I wait for my graphics and clearcoat orders to come in, but most of them were missing from my playfield.

Would any Flash owners be able to take four of the plastics, trace them on a piece of paper (including post holes), scan it at full size and email it to me? I'd need:

- the plastics on both sides of the upper lanes
- the plastic between the lower pop and the 3-bank of drops
- the larger piece on the lower right that surrounds the kick out hole.

Let me know if you can help. Thanks!

Prepare the fainting couch and get ready to clutch your pearls - today I do a little spot painting.

There's a chance that my graphics won't match up with the playfield with perfect precision, so this is just to ensure that the old graphics don't show through in the gap.

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Here's an update on the project cost so far:

Playfield: $250
Marco Order #1: $34.99
Pinball Life order #1: $20.35
Marco Order #2: $54.18
Donor game: $400
Clearcoat & hardener: $126.38*
Playfield graphics: $86.14
Clearcoating supplies: $63.79

Total: $1032.83

*I bought twice as much clearcoat as I need because a). I wanted to make sure I had enough and b). the only supplier in town that will sell it to me is hard to work with and I want to deal with them as little as possible. Now I won't have to go back to them for my next project.

It's clearcoating day!

Just a light layer to lock everything down. Also, sandwiching the decals between layers of clearcoat will help equalize the tension, ensuring that nothing lifts up where it shouldn't.

Bulbs and inverted star switches are in place to keep things from getting gummy.

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Once the clearcoat was dry, it was time to apply the decals - really the only part of the process that I was at all nervous about.

First, I pinned the decal to the playfield using nails in the screw holes, to get the proper allignment. Once it was set, I taped the back half down so it wouldn't move and started on the "hinge" method of decal application - you'll notice that I used black-backed vinyl to ensure that the old Flash graphics wouldn't show through.

First, I carefully peeled back the backing paper halfway and cut it off. Then, using a padded squeegee, I slowly worked from the center to the bottom of the playfield, pressing the decal into the board. Next, I peeled back the remaining backing paper and worked from the center to the top. All that was left was to peel away the protective tack paper to reveal the decal.

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As I suspected, the placement of some of the holes was slightly off and didn't line up precisely with the inserts. I had expected that to be the case, so I had a set of clear decals made for the inserts with black borders. Not only does this allow me to add text and numbers to some of the inserts, it lets me hide the edges.

I also had to re-poke a few screw holes, but they'll all be covered by posts and playfield elements. I'll also do a little touchup after the next coat of clear.

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Here's the post where I reveal my new theme and, consequently, lose half my audience.

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You and me both, Jeff. Don't Stop Me Now, because this is still months away from being a playable game.

As I mentioned in my first post, I feel that this is the theme Bally never got around to in the 70's. How does the greatest rock band of all time not have a pinball machine?

In case you're curious, May, Taylor and Deacon will appear on the plastics.

ed: I feel that the proper way to make a Queen pinball machine is to do it in the late-70's style - no ramps, no boring standard fan layout, using LED displays rather than complex DMD animations. I wouldn't want Stern doing this theme nowadays because they simply don't make that kind of machine.

I was thinking Freddy could do the callouts himself. (but those decisions are months away).

Awesome! You'll notice that the upper flipper "strums" the guitar and the row of star rollovers runs up the frets. I'm thinking blue pop caps and maybe album covers on the drop targets.

I'm thrilled to see that there's so much support for this theme!

Thanks! I did it myself. I'm pretty handy with Adobe Illustrator.

Clearcoating is done! (Whew!)

Each session was done in a hot, closed garage while wearing a respirator, goggles and a Tyvek suit. I was swimming in sweat after each application. There were some complications along the way but I think the last coat turned out pretty well. Now it will live in its cabinet, stowed under Jet Spin, to cure for six weeks. When I get back from ReplayFX it will be ready for a final sanding, polish and wax.

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So far, I've only given it a little thought. Images of the band for sure, maybe relocate the score displays to one side. That'll require making a new interior panel.

It will have running background music for sure. I've also started to glean callouts from YouTube audio: guitar licks, bass pops, drums, and Freddy shouting things like "HEY!" and "YEAH!". Brian May's signature guitar tone already sounds like classic Bally sounds.

But before programming and audio, the first order of business will be to get the cabinet in shape, finish and populate the playfield and make it look like a pinball machine. Like Frankenstein's monster, I'll create the body first, then give it a brain and animate it with lightning.

Dear mods: we need an emoji for "sweaty and exhausted."

When assembled, Flash has three light-colored side rails at the bottom of the playfield that aren't going to look great with my new design, so I've decided to cover them with black veneer. At first, I thought I'd have to cut separate veneer panels for each side of each rail (which is why the corners are painted in the photos) but soon realized that I can glue one larger sheet one side at a time to cover everything at once.

This also gives me another use for the mini clamps I bought to install side mirrors on my TOTAN. I clamped the wood to a piece of flat scrap lumber to ensure even adhesion.

Once the veneer was glued down, I just had to trim it up and re-drill the holes. It's not necessary to cover the whole right side rail, since just a few inches at the bottom are exposed. The rest is covered by the lower apron and the plastics.

If you're going to try this, learn from my initial mistakes and apply glue to the wood, rather than the veneer. And mark your hole placement first.

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One of my goals for this machine is to make it a "wedgehead multicade" that plays different games all on the same layout. For example, I could do a "hit the moving target" game like Golden Arrow or a "light numbers 1 through 10" game like Fun Land or Buccaneer. I'd also like to incorporate a game like OXO (or probably more like Bongo), but that would require a tic tac toe display and the only place for it is on the back glass, which would require making a new inside panel and then designing art around that. The backglass might be one of the last elements I tackle, after I get some important technical issues sorted out.

But for now, with the playfield resting comfortably, I'll turn my attention to the cabinet.

Galileo Figaro...!

It will be a while before the playfield is ready for refinishing and repopulating, so I'm trying to get little things done in the mean time. This includes making plastics. I've had some nice Pinsiders volunteer to send me tracings of my missing pieces, but they haven't had time yet, so if someone wants to help me out, please let me know!

Sure thing - it's 8746 Copperhead... Heyyyyyyyy!

Here's a quick project I can check off my list: Drop targets!

I started by getting images of Queen's first 8 album covers, reducing them to 1" squares and printing them on full-sheet label paper. Then, I covered them with a leftover piece of transparent laminate that I got from my printer (remember those clearcoat tests I did a few weeks ago?) and cut them out with an X-acto. Then, I just had to peel and stick them onto the targets. Voila!

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An 8" X 10" holographic-sparkle sticker is only $.89 at my local art store.

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I still have four more weeks before the clearcoat is cured and I can't make any real progress until August ( ), so I'm looking ahead to the next three or four steps down the road. I created this diagram, which shows several things all at once:

1. Inventory of controlled lights, coils, switches and GI that I'll need to wire up.
2. Placement, size and color of the rings I'll need (I'm planning on going to Titan for these).
3. Number, placement and color of lamps (GI and controlled).
4. Lights grouped into columns for the lamp matrix.
5. Switches grouped into columns for the switch matrix.

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Here are two more diagrams I created for wiring the lamp columns and rows. You'll notice that in my game, the pop bumper and kickout lights are controlled, rather than GI, like in the original Flash.

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Thanks! Marco has a good selection, but I included mine in a big order from Pinballlife.com. Prices are comparable (they're a few cents each, but it adds up quick!) I know Steve at PBR carries them as well.

I'm back from ReplayFX! More importantly, it's now been six weeks since I finished spraying the clearcoat so the playfield should be fully cured and ready for sanding.

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Here's the sanded playfield.

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May, Taylor and Deacon will all have prominent places on the plastics.

Now for the final polish and buff with liquid abrasives.

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A coat of carnuba paste wax, and you can see the clear reflection of my light fixture and the blinds from across the room.

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Time for another cost update.

Playfield: $250
Marco Order #1: $34.99
Pinball Life order #1: $20.35
Marco Order #2: $54.18
Donor game: $400
Clearcoat & hardener: $126.38*
Playfield graphics: $86.14
Clearcoating supplies: $123.98
Veneer: 20.91
Cabinet decals: 301.74
Pinball Life order #2: 210.78
Titan Pinball order: $61.17

Total: $1690.62

The re-population has begun.

I've also printed my plastic shapes on cardstock, cut them out, and have been tailoring them to the playfield, shaving off a bit here, widening a bit there. Pinsider Miracleman helped me with the smaller plastics, but I had to create that big lower right piece from scratch and it's taken to longest to get the shape just right.

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Here's a quandry I could use some help with. The playfield brackets that hang on the lock bar and secure the apron in place don't line up with the slots and gaps - it's the only drawback to putting a Williams playfield in a Bally body. Now the glass won't go on and the lockbar won't latch.

I could re-drill holes on the left one and re-mount the bracket to line up with the lock bar, but the trough solenoid is in the way of the right one. Would it be better to:

1. Install a proper Williams lockbar (would that even work in a Bally body)?

2. Cut off the tops of the brackets so the playfield rests on the interior rails, rather than hanging onto the lockbar?

3. Get a custom bracket made that bolts into the current holes, turns a corner and hangs in the lockbar slots? Where would one even get such a piece made?

Any other ideas are welcome. Priorities in order are: 1. Effective 2. Cheap 3. Easy.

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I can move the left bracket, but there's stuff in the way of the right one. Buying a Williams lockbar might be the simplest solution. My only concern there is if it will screw into the cabinet the same way.

What about cutting new holes and gaps into the existing lockbar?

The re-population continues! I replaced the 70's style flipper assemblies with more modern systems. To make room for the upper flipper, I had to move one of the lamp sockets, so I'll have to get a flex-light to reach into that spot. All the topside pop bumper parts are new, but I discovered that I have only one complete set of parts for below deck, so I've attached what I can and will have to start yet another shopping list for the rest. But the top is looking good.

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Bonus! I had the idea to attach a 6 volt battery to the GI line and got a little preview of things to come.

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Last week (back in post #140) I wrote about a problem with the Williams playfield hangers not lining up with the Bally lockbar. I considered drilling new holes or replacing the lockbar system... then a hero stepped forward.

Pinsider Mk1Mod0 of Third Coast Pinball came to the rescue. I sent him all the measurements required for a custom adapter bracket and a mirror-finish masterpiece showed up in my mailbox today. It is gorgeous and it works PERFECTLY!

If you ever need custom parts like this fabricated, I highly recommend that you send Mk1Mod0 a PM - it's quick and easy and the results are spectacular.

WmsToBallyBracket.pdf

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It's not just the playfield I'm re-theming in this project - it's also the cabinet.

Actually, this is the second time this cabinet has been re-purposed. Years after it rolled off the Bally line, it was painted black and re-themed with a conversion kit. When I got it, the machine was still working and sturdy, if a little dinged up.

With the rails off and some of the original finish exposed, who can correctly tell me what game this cabinet originally housed?

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Correct!

Time to give this cabinet a Queen makeover with some new decals.

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A few details:

New black leg bolts with black washers and felt pads.
A keyless lock for the coin door.
Fresh new white buttons and housings.
Shooter rod is re-assembled with a new spring.

I love the feel of a classic Bally shooter handle.

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I finished designing the plastics a couple of weeks ago - tailoring and perfecting the shapes - and then looked into getting them fabricated in acrylic. I did a small project last year at Ponoko.com, but with materials, laser cutting, shipping, tax, setup fees, etc., this project would cost me about $90. Then I remembered that my main library downtown has a "makerspace" with all sorts of cool gadgets, including a laser cutter/engraver. Price: free to members. I'd just have to bring my own sheet of acrylic, which I picked up at Lowes for $11. I even had enough acrylic to make a couple of extra slingshot plastics and a few protector pieces for the high-impact areas.

The downside is that there's a two-week waitlist to use any of their equipment. But the wait is over and today was the day! I documented the whole process, which took about 40 minutes from setup through cutting. Here's a video of the machine in action.

Total cost: $11 for the acrylic, $2 for downtown parking.

Now I just have to wait for my printer to finish the graphics.

I'm going to remove all the original solid state components and 90% of the wiring, creating my own switch and light matrixes, and use P-ROC boards. The ruleset will be entirely different - objective-based modes rather than straight-up scoring.

I expect that the new flipper mechs may be a little stronger than the originals, but they're certainly going to be more sturdy.

My printer is taking his time with my light shield graphics, but at least I can finish assembling the pop bumpers and install the drop targets.

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As I mentioned earlier, I plan on setting up my own light and switch matrices (matrixes? matrix's?) so today's project is to clear the underside of the playfield. I left behind the GI circuits (no reason to re-wire those), a few connections here and there and I left the drop target wires dangling to help me keep track of future wiring.

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They came! My plastics graphics came today!

I applied them the same way as the playfield and cabinet decals, using the "hinge" method and trimmed them using an X-acto blade. Repeat nine times and I have a full set of completed plastics!

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Here's what the plastics look like in place.

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And a few with the GI circuit hooked up to a battery.

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I had my printer make some decals for the lower apron at the same time as he did the cabinet decals, but after I applied them and removed the tack paper, I noticed a problem with the fonts.

So when he made my plastics graphics, I had him run a revised file. Much better now. Then I added some temporary instruction cards and put everything in place.

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...and with that, I'm ready to declare the first phase of this project done!

What we have here is a very expensive pinball-shaped piece of non-functioning furniture. The body of my Frankenstein's monster is complete - the next step will be to give it a nervous system and a brain.

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I asked my printer to use a white translucent vinyl used for lightboxes and to make it a "reverse sticker," with the adhesive on the printed side, so I could stick them on the underside of the clear plastic pieces.

The next step will be to wire up the light matrix and I've come up with my 6 X 8 grid, below.

Question: I know that the signal will go from the P-ROC to each column sequentially from top to bottom (i.e. P-ROC > 1 > 2 > 3... etc.) but what about the rows? Does the signal come from the P-ROC and go left-to-right (i.e. P-ROC > 1 > 9 > 17... etc.) or does it go into the P-ROC from right to left (i.e. ...17 > 9 > 1 > P-ROC)?

In other words, should the P-ROC connect to the rows from 1, 2, 3, 4... etc. or from 41, 42, 43, 44, etc.?

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It occurs to me that this isn't really a problem - I could, theoretically, connect the rows to the P-ROC at any point because once the line is energized, all the points it includes are energized. Moving on to the next question: how to wire the master switch mounted on the bottom of the cabinet.

Below is a diagram I came up with showing all the components I'll need and how they'll be set up.

Question #1: How does one connect the three wires from the wall socket (positive, negative, ground) to the two-pronged cabinet switch?

Question #2: How does one further wire the cabinet switch so the power splits into the two power supply devices?

Any help and/or photos would be welcome!

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It does! Thank you! I'd also need to split the negative and ground wires to connect to the power supplies too, no? I'm thinking it might be easier to get one of these, chop off the plugs and connect the wires as needed.

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That is a fantastic idea.

Here are the power supply components I'm looking at. Neither appears to have a standard plug, so wiring will have to be connected to the lugs.

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Is there not one device that puts out three different voltages? That would make things a lot easier.

That looks like fantastic work and helps me out a lot! Diagrams are a start but it helps to see photos of what it looks like put together.

Questions: Do your Raspberry Pi and main board (P-ROC?) require 12V? Someone recommended including fuses between the power devices and logic boards - the Fast power filter does that, yes?

Graphics are the easy part for me but I'm winging it when it comes to the electrical engineering - what's your game's theme?

Did you get the power devices from Fast as well?

I's been a long, exciting day for me as I started wiring the lamp matrixes! I revised them a little from what I posted a few days ago, but everything went pretty smoothly. Columns and rows are color-coded in ROYGBIV order. Columns wires are grouped with red zip ties and rows are grouped with yellow. My fingers smell like flux.

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Now for the fun part: I made a video of my final matrix tests! I manually attached the wires to a 6 volt battery and everything looks like it's working beautifully!

I have no idea about how to control the displays yet. I'd like to keep the original 70's neumeric LED's and once heard a rumor that someone had found a way to control those, but I don't know what they used.

Which components are powered by the 12v line?

"A shooting star leaping through the sky like a tiger, defying the laws of gravity."

My switch matrix is done! (Well, mostly. I still have some questions about how the drop targets work, but I'll see if I can't work it out.)

Unfortunately, testing the switch matrix doesn't lend itself to a cool video like the light matrix, so I'll drop a few artsy photos of my wiring instead. It may look like a mess up close, but it makes sense to me.

Also: two-tiered cable ties, copyright TopMoose 2016 ©

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Coils and flash lamps are wired! White wire for positive, black for negative. I ordered 25 feet of each and blew right through it with no problem. So I went out and bought 25 more feet of each and used it all up in a couple of hours. It took one more trip to the store and now I'm done and have some line left over to connect to the circuit boards when the time comes. But I'll probably need to make a fourth and final wire run.

I discovered in all this that hardware stores generally don't carry wire smaller than 14 AWG. I had to go to an auto parts store to find a match for the 18 I was using.

Here's how the underside of the playfield looks now:

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I also took time to finish the various bundles with Molex connectors. The six plugs pictured are for light rows, light columns, switch rows, switch columns, positive coils and negative coils. The four row and column connections are color-coded with red, yellow, blue and green zip ties throughout the game.

The two loose wires are for the general illumination and will connect directly to the power supply, rather than the lamp boards.

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Here's an update on the cost so far.

Playfield: $250
Marco Order #1: $34.99
Pinball Life order #1: $20.35
Marco Order #2: $54.18
Donor game: $400
Clearcoat & hardener: $126.38
Playfield graphics: $86.14
Clearcoating supplies: $123.98
Veneer: 20.91
Cabinet decals: 301.74
Pinball Life order #2: 210.78
Titan Pinball order: $61.17
Plastics: $91.65
Wire & connectors: $232.78
Electronic components: $115.04

Total: $2130.09

Today I got started re-wiring the cabinet by removing all the existing wires. The cabinet switches were part of the original switch matrix, so there were a lot of wires running back and forth between the cabinet and the playfield, but in my design, the cabinet switches are all dedicated, separate from the matrix, making things a lot simpler.

Since this will be a strictly home-use, free-play-only machine, I was able to simplify further by eliminating a lot of the switches entirely - no need for working coin mechs, slam tilt or roll tilt. That left me with just four switches - two flipper buttons, the credit button and the bob tilt.

I also replaced the original 1978 two-prong plug with a modern 3-prong version. With that simple change, the power cord could stay intact as well as all the existing interior power setup. The line goes into the cabinet, through a simple relay, through a utility plug, to the toggle switch, and out a simple pair of wires, which will feed my power supplies and put out the correct voltages for my components.

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Today's chore is to clean out the backbox, removing all the old circuit boards and gently storing them in anti-static plastic bags to sell off later. Now I'm just left with the wiring harness (which is attached to the displays, which I'd like to keep) and a few mounting brackets.

Here's the before and after:

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